


Newton's Third Law

by Kasumiisareader



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Aromantic Asexual Pidge | Katie Holt, Female to non-binary, Gender Dysphoria, Nonbinary Character, Nonbinary Pidge | Katie Holt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-12
Updated: 2018-11-13
Packaged: 2019-08-23 02:17:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16609988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kasumiisareader/pseuds/Kasumiisareader
Summary: Katie Holt has few things she knows in life, and most are related to math or science. The problems are none of those, but instead her own self and the people around her.AkaHigh school au with Pidge as the main





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for any inconsistencies between characters or typos. Still pretty new to this and wrote it on my phone, but I'm trying

   Everything happens because something happened before it. Every action has its equal and opposite reaction. It was Newton's third law, after all.

   So how they ended up in the middle of the park, past midnight, crying, was beyond them. Maybe it started with the incidents from that morning, or the ones from the past week, or from the incident of sixth grade. That was probably where it'd started.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_**Sixth Grade Year** _

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   "Yo! Katie! Slow down! We was only teasin'!"  
Katie ignored them, instead deciding to continue walking to the bus stop. She shouldn't have decided to wait for her brother. It made her an easier target. At least at the bus stop she felt safer, with the bus driver keeping track of who went on and off.

She wouldn't even be in this mess if her brother had just picked her up when he was supposed to. Like a responsible older brother should. Where was he. Usually he would call or text or something to let her know that he wasn't going to be there. But he hadn't, which kind of scared her. But that was fine. She didn't need emotions. Statistically, he had probably fallen asleep in the library, or was hanging out with his friends, or simply had forgotten. No harm done. But something inside her told her that she was wrong, and she ignored it.

The students' calls from behind her sounded out again, and she hiked her bag up higher and moved faster from their taunts.

"C'mon Shorty!"

"You're smart enough to tell a joke apart!"

"Running like a baby! Suits you!"

She wasn't running. Not even close. She was avoiding an issue before it arose. There was a difference. She didn't reply or acknowledge their existence.

"What? You scared now that your big bubby isn't here to save you? He's forgotten you, like he should have."  
That one got her. Where was he. He should have picked her up. She stopped and turned quickly, glaring at the group. "I don't need my brother to save me. I'm not five, and 'to tell a joke apart' is not a finished sentence and makes no sense." She started to turn back around until she felt one of their hands grab her arm.

"A girl has no business talking back to men."  
Her mouth moved without her say so.

"I see no men. I see children pretending that they're important because their balls haven't dropped yet."  
She barely finished her sentence before she felt her arm yanked and she was falling.

"Maybe she thinks she's not a girl. That must be why she wears those silly clothes and thinks she can talk to us that way."

She watched the leader nod as she rubbed her hands on her pants, trying to get the dirt off from when she fell.

"You know what it means, right?" She didn't like this. Her mind watched all of them as much as she could, trying to back up. One had moved to behind her, blocking her path.

"It means that she gets treated like a boy, or like a girl. Her pick. So. What do you say?"

She stopped. What did they mean? There was more than just boys or girls. Male and female were predetermined sexes, but gender was vast and varied. She shook her head. No way. She knew what they did to either gender, and if she was telling the truth, neither one was better than the other. So she did what Shiro had taught her. She stood slowly, carefully, pretending to be playing along for just a second before-

_**Bam.** _

Her knuckles would be red after this, but it didn't matter. She needed to get out of there, and fast. She just needed to go home. She moved her feet, but didn't get far before she was invoked to the ground, face being pressed into the hard cement of the sidewalk. It was hot and rough, and with the knee pressed into her back, wasn't all that comfortable.

"So you thought you could outsmart me, huh? Girls don't get in fights, so guess you're a boy today."  
She tried to scream. She swore she tried, but she could feel it in her throat. Run. Get help. Fight.

All her instincts were telling her to find a way out, but there was no way. She felt pain wrack through her as the boy's hand collided with her face. That would leave a bruise. She was picked up easily, arms held back, though trying to flail from the boy's grip. It wasn't the leader of the group who's picked her up, but two of the larger ones, bracing her so that the leader would do his worst.

The boy's hand smashed into her gut, and she nearly puked. She tried to curl in on herself for protection, but all it got her was another punch. Another after another until finally, /finally/, she figured they were tired of playing with her and let her drop to the ground. Her nose was bleeding, everything hurts, and scratches everywhere on the left side of her face from when she was pushed to the ground. She didn't move. She didn't want to move. She didn't want to look up to see her bag nowhere in sight. She didn't want to look up to find that her brother really had forgotten her, or even worse, that he had remembered her, and simply watched her get hurt. So she laid there, allowing the pain to wash over her until she fell asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   When she next awoke, it was to the sound of her name being called. She had a feeling that she was surrounded, which panicked her only for a moment as she remembered what had happened. But no, they must be gone now. She started to sit up, going to rub her eyes, but found that it hurt more than it should have. Right. Punches came with pain too. She'd sort of forgotten that part in her drowsiness. But she only flinched and braced herself for it as she sat up more, looking around herself. Five or six people were gathered around her, trying to figure out why there was a little girl in the middle of the sidewalk with a bloody nose and no bag.

She wouldn't tell them. She just wanted to go home and for her brother to tell her why the hell he wasn't there for her. And then she wanted something to eat. That would be good.

"Please let me up?" She mumbled softly, trying to stand in the midst of the people, she wobbled, the pain starting to null some at the consistency, and finally broke free of the group. "I'm fine. Just fell asleep is all," she continued, starting to go home. Her face stung as she turned back to look at them all with a sleepy glare, hoping that might persuade them into leaving. It mostly worked.

She started home, not finding her bag. It was just beginning to become twilight, and she was unaware of how long she had been sleeping. She hoped she could sneak in, but she doubted it.

When she got home, she noticed that there were no cars in the driveway. Usually somebody was home, but in the case nobody was, she always had a key... Which was in her bag. She was stuck out here now. Great. Well, looks like she had to break in to her own house.  
She opened up the gate to the back, which never really was locked, but instead just looked like it was, and closed it behind her. She went around to the door that had no handle, trying to figure out a way to wiggle it open without hurting herself even more. She finally ended up using a stick as a lever and wedging it open and entering the house that way. The first thing she did was call her mom to tell her she was home.

No answer

Well, maybe she was driving and her dad could pick up. She dialed in his number and pressed call there as well.

No answer.

She tried Matt's, hoping for him to be her saving grace.

No answer.

Did they actually forget about her? Why weren't they answering? She called each of them two more times just to be safe, then called Keith. Keith and her had somewhat grown up together, and he had always answered her calls, no matter what. He would provide her some comfort.

She dialed in his number, then pressed the little green button, hands shaky, but steadying. He would answer. She knew it.

One ring. Two rings. Three rings?...  
There. His voice. "Keith? Where is everyone?"

"Pidgeon? We're at the hospital."

What? Why the hospital? What had happened? "Why What's wrong?" Her voice was panicked, but Keith kept his cool. 

"Shiro got in an accident. He's in the ICU. I'll be there in a bit to pick you up."


	2. A Champion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise for the shortness, but I wasn't sure how to end off this chapter and make it longer at he same time. So enjoy! Also, sorry for any incorrect grammar.

She felt her heart jump into her throat. No. He was the most careful and bravest person she knew. He had taught her to fight, how to protect herself. Not that it had really worked, but how could he be hurt? It was impossible. But yet-

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the front door. She headed towards it, expecting it to be Keith. It was. But he didn't look okay. He usually had an air of confidence around him that was rarely rivaled, and seeing him like this was a stark contrast. His head was tilted slightly down, and his eyes were red, as though he'd been crying. Not that she should judge. She was on the verge of it.

"C'min," her low voice sounded out. Everything felt quiet and still. Stiff.

He nodded and moved towards the couch in the living room as she locked the door behind him.

"Did you take the bus?" She questioned, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah. We should be getting back. He could be getting worse an-"

"-What happened? He's so careful and this isn't possible for him," she interrupted.

"Drunk driver. Unavoidable." Keith looked up at her for the first time since entering, noticing the scrapes and bruises that were forming. "And them?"

"Yeah. Matt was supposed to pick me up, but he never did. I guess I can forgive him, seeing as his best friend just got in an accident."

Keith nodded, and stood from the couch, carefully grabbing Pidge's wrist and leading her to the bathroom, where he sat her on the toilet seat before pulling out the first aid kit.

"Could you see him?" Pidge asked, hoping to get some comfort.

Keith shook his head. "They took him away too fast. Wouldn't let us in."

She hissed softly as she felt the cold sting of some cleaner on her cuts. Keith softly apologised.

"Is he going to..." She didn't want to finish that sentence.

"They're not sure." He didn't want to entertain that idea either.

A long silence passed between them as Keith continued patching up Pidge's scrapes. They'd heal fast, both knew, but it would take longer if they got infected. When he had finished, Pidge slid off the toilet, leaving the bathroom, Keith right behind her.

It was Pidge who broke the silence. "I'm getting some stuff for the night. I'm not leaving until I know he's okay."

Keith only nodded in understanding, opting to help instead of fight the smaller one's tendencies to stay up for days at a time.

Pidge packed as fast as she could, only throwing paper, pencils, and a couple of breakfast bars into the bag before picking it up and following Keith out of the house the way she'd entered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They took the bus to the hospital and found the rest of her family. They all had red rings around their eyes, and wore the same expression of grief. She took the seat next to Matt, who looked at her carefully, then whispered a soft, "Sorry," at the sight of the bandaids on her left cheek.

Pidge shook her head, mumbling in response, "Don't worry. Not your fault."

Keith didn't sit. He couldn't sit and do nothing but think of all the ways that Shiro would die. Pidge understood. She handed him the bag of stuff she'd packed earlier, letting him take what he needed, and watched him grab a pencil and the paper.

Pidge knew Keith's talent for drawing, and on many occasions let him draw on her arms or legs when they were hanging out. She understood that it was a stress reliever for him, and would take his mind off it. But Keith didn't know that Pidge liked to watch him. She had no talent at all for art, but she could fell herself being mesmerized by watching the pencil scratch back and forth on the paper, creating from nothing.  
So there they sat, for hours, just the five of them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pidge had lost track of time a while ago. She was unsure of whether the sun was still in the sky or not. She doubted it highly, but it didn't matter anyways. She was watching Keith still, trying to recite pi to herself as far as she could to keep her mind off things when a nurse walked over to them with a soft smile.  
The words the nurse spoke were about the only thing that she had cared about for years. "He's going to be okay."

And they broke. The five smiled and cried and stood, knowing that Shiro, that their family member, was going to be okay. But the nurse wasn't finished. "You can see him, but must let him rest. He lost a lot of blood, and... Well... You'll see in a moment."  
Pidge didn't know what that meant, but she knew it wasn't good.

The five followed the nurse to his room, trying to be as quiet as they could so they didn't disturb anyone else.  
They filed into Shiro's room to see a pale Shiro, lacking a right arm. But very much alive.


End file.
